>> GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME TO CONNECTING POINT, I'M JIM
MADIGAN.
TIME TEAGUE OFF THE BEATEN PATH.
THIS TIME WE VISIT A QUIET AND INTERESTING PLACE NESTLED IN THE
CORNER OF WESTFIELD COURTESY OF DAVE FRASER.
>> WYBEN IS PART OF WESTFIELD, NOT SEPARATE, AND IT WAS BEGUN,
REALLY, IN 1702, 100 YEARS BEFORE THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.
FARMING COMMUNITY WITH A CHURCH THAT WAS THRIVING, AND A SCHOOL
THAT WAS THRIVING, AND PEOPLE THAT CENTERED AROUND BOTH.
>> YOU ARE TALKING TO A WESTFIELD RESIDENT, AND THEY ARE
VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE CHURCH.
SO PEOPLE WILL KNOW OF THIS LITTLE CHURCH THAT'S VERY BIG.
PLUS, IF YOU ARE TALKING TO ANYBODY OUTSIDE OF WESTFIELD,
THEY REALLY DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.
>> WHAT YOU FIND HERE ARE STILL OPEN FIELDS, HOMES THAT HAVE
SIGNIFICANT LAND AROUND THEM, AND YOU ARE NOT RIGHT ON TOP OF
EACH OTHER, IT IS PROBABLY 10 MINUTES, 12 FROM DOWNTOWN
WESTFIELD.
>> WE SEE A SIGN THAT YOU ARE ENTERING WYBEN, BUT THE PROPERTY
LINEUP, SO TO SPEAK, ARE NOT DEFINED.
IF SOMEONE CLOSE BY WANTS TO BE IN WYBEN, THEY ARE THERE.
>> MY DESCRIPTION IS IF YOU KNOW WHERE THE HIGH SCHOOL IS, KEEP
ON GOING UNTIL YOU FIND THE Y IN THE ROAD, AND WHEN YOU FIND THE
Y IN THE ROAD, YOU ARE GOING TO STAY LEFT, AND WHEN YOU GET TO
THE NEXT Y IN THE ROAD, WHICH IS RIGHT HERE, YOU HAVE FOUND
WYBEN.
>> I GREW UP IN A SMALLER COMMUNITY SO MOVING HERE WAS
LIKE A LITTLE PIECE OF HOME FOR ME.
THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN WYBEN IS HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE, AND
IT'S UNIQUE.
>> I HAD NO CLUE THAT I WOULD EVER BE THE PASTOR OF THE WYBEN
UNION CHURCH.
I DID NOT KNOW IT EXISTED UNTIL 2.5 YEARS AGO.
>> EVEN IN OTHER COMMUNITIES WHERE THE CHURCH IS A PART OF
THAT COMMUNITY, YOU STILL DON'T SEE IT AS VITALLY IMPORTANT, BUT
HERE YOU FIND THAT THE CHURCH IS STILL VERY IMPORTANT AND THE
PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH, IT'S DIFFERENT THAN YOU SEE IN SO
MANY OTHER AREAS WHETHER IT'S IN THE CITY OR THE COUNTRY, MANY OF
THE PEOPLE HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY WALK TO THE CHURCH.
AND YOU DON'T SEE THAT VERY OFTEN ANY LONGER.
>> WE CAME TO WYBEN KIND OF BY CHANCE, I SUPPOSE.
WE WERE LOOKING TO TO GET OUT OF THE HILLTOWNS BECAUSE MY
CHILDREN LIVED HERE AND MY GRAND CHIPPER ARE HERE IN THIS AREA,
AND WE HAD BEEN COMING TO THE ANTIQUE SHOPS, WAY BACK FROM
WHEN MRS.
HAYDEN OWNED IT, OUR KITCHEN TABLE WE BOUGHT HERE 40
YEARS AGO FROM ABEL HAYDEN.
ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS, HIS GRANDFATHER OWNED THE WYBEN
FILLING STATION, AND MOST PEOPLE HAD NEVER SEEN IT.
FORTUNATELY HE HAD A PICTURE, JUST ANOTHER PART OF WYBEN THAT
EXISTED, THAT MOST PEOPLE WHO ARE PART OF IT HAVE NO IDEA.
>> WHEN I CAME TO WYBEN, I DISCOVERED THE FOURTH OF JULY
PARADE, WHICH IS A WONDERFUL TRADITION HERE IN WYBEN.
IT IS A STEP BACK IN TIME.
YOU FIND EVERY KIND OF TRACTOR, SMALL OR LARGE, NEW OR OLD, IF
THERE IS A VEHICLE THAT CAN BE DRIVEN, IF THERE IS SOMETHING
THAT CAN BE PEDDLED, IF THERE IS THERE IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE
PUSHED, AND IF IT'S NOTHING MORE THAN JUST SHOES ON YOUR FEET,
YOU ARE WELCOME TO BE IN THE PARADE.
>> I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GREAT IDEA IF WE, AS A COMMUNITY, GOT
TOGETHER AND ENTERED A FLOAT IN THE PARADE, AND I DECIDED ON THE
SCHOOLHOUSE.
THE SCHOOLHOUSE PLAYED A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMUNITY.
SO WE BUILT A REPLICA THAT WE PUT IT ON THE BACK OF A FLATBED
TRUCK AND WE HAULED IT DOWN THE PARADE ROUTE.
TO OUR SHOCK WE WON FIRST PRIZE FOR AN OUTSIDE ENTRY.
YOU NEVER SAW A BUNCH OF RETIRED SENIORS CELEBRATING LIKE WE DID.
YOU WOULD THINK THAT WE WON THE LOTTERY, A BILLION DOLLARS.
>> THIS COMMUNITY REALLY LOOKS OUT FOR ITSELF, AND THAT'S WHAT
IS SO ENDURING IS THAT WHILE WE'RE PART OF WESTFIELD, THE
COMMUNITY ITSELF UP IN THIS CORNER STILL REALLY THINKS OF
ITSELF AS ITS OWN COMMUNITY WHAT IT STANDS FOR AND ITS RICH
CONNECTION TO SUPPORTING FAMILY LIFE, AND REALLY THE HISTORY AND
THE HERITAGE OF THIS GREAT COMMUNITY OF WESTFIELD.